A Blog of Members of the Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section of the American Bar Association

Monday, July 7, 2014

Chair Joe Whitley Discusses His Tenure as Leader of the Section

by Nina Hart

We had the opportunity to talk with Joe Whitley regarding his tenure as Chair of the Section.Below he shares his reflections on the past
year and advice on future goals for the Section in the coming years.

1. As Chair of the Section, what were your priorities or goals
for the Section this year?

I
look back on my initial remarks in August of 2013 to the AdLaw Section Council
and I see that there were many things that I wanted to accomplish.First, I wanted to maintain “the excellence
of the Section in the categories of publishing and programming.”Second, I wanted to find a way to overcome the
challenges the Section has confronted in growing its membership by reaching out
not only to younger lawyers but also to a more diverse group of practitioners –
the lawyers who might not identify themselves as AdLaw lawyers but who
nevertheless deal extensively with the administrative state – to encourage them
to join the Section.Third, I thought
the Section should experiment with growing its programs outside of the
Washington, DC area.These goals were a
direct result of the “Strategic Plan” that retired Professor and Section Chair
Bill Luneburg and others developed several years ago.I am very pleased with the support that Vice
Chair Jeff Rosen gave to the initiative of implementing the Strategic Plan.

2. What would you consider to be your most significant
achievement as Chair?

Last
year, I visited Muir Woods in the San Francisco Bay area and felt very young
against the old and mighty Coastal Redwoods that tower hundreds of feet above
me.It reminded me that like the growth
of these magnificent trees, the Administrative Law Section is always going to
be a work in progress, constantly growing and evolving; and we will always we
need new trees to measure that progress.Thanks to the support of Section Director, Anne Kiefer, we dusted off
the Section’s Strategic Plan by setting up meetings with the leadership of the
Section to discuss, revive and implement key parts of that plan.I am proud to say thanks to Vice Chair Jeff
Rosen, Chair Elect Anna Shavers, Last Retiring Chair Jamie Conrad, Section
Director Anne Kiefer, and others that we have made measurable progress this
year.I look forward to seeing those
efforts continue to grow in the years to come.

3. What, if anything,
most surprised or challenged you in your service as Chair?

First,
I was surprised by the time commitment that the Chair must make to the Section
and to its programs.Everything that
happens both “good” and “bad” in the Section is the Chair’s
responsibility.The buck stops
here!You have to be fully invested –
“all in” – to make your Chair year and the Section successful.It has been challenging, given my full-time
practice outside of the ABA AdLaw Section, but I’m sure other Section Chairs
would join me in saying that it was worth every minute of the time spent as a
Section Leader. To be able to see
something grow under your leadership is very rewarding.

Second,
as I look back on the year, the brevity of the Chair’s year is stunning.At the beginning, a year seemed like a long
journey and that I would have time to accomplish the many goals I set out to
achieve with the Section.However,
looking back now, the year seems to have gone by all too quickly.The challenge was time – time to get
everything done.Unfortunately, you
never have that luxury as Chair.You
always have a full inbox that you regrettably pass along to the incoming Chair
in the hopes that he or she will be able to accomplish in the new year some of
the tasks left undone.

4. Are there any other
long-term proposals that you hope the Section will be able undertake or implement
in the coming years?

Marketing
the Section to grow the Section is a long-term objective.We must become more youthful and diverse as a
Section and at the same time hold on to our more senior and experienced
administrative law practitioners.

Regional
growth and planning for the Section is something that I initiated as Chair with
a CLE program in the Atlanta market.I
believe such programing should continue and it is my hope that my successors
will turn the Spring Meeting into more than a CLE opportunity for the Section.

Publishing
is another long-term project.The
Section needs to continuously revisit the needs of our members and others for
the quality of AdLaw publications under the leadership of Professor Bill Jordan
and his successors.

Another
long-term proposal is national programming and programs.I think we should constantly look at how our
programs can better reach the far corners of the United States to meet the
needs of all of our Section members, as well as others outside of the Section
to help draw in those who would normally not give our Section a second
glance.I believe quality programs,
webinars, brown bag luncheons, and other events strategically held throughout
the United States would be a good opportunity to market the Section and show
non-ABA practitioners of administrative law that we are the Section where
“everybody does it.”

5.What advice might you
give to lawyers or law students interested in being more involved with the
Section?Do you have any suggestions for
how current Section members could encourage more attorneys and law students to
become involved with the Section?

As I
mentioned at the beginning of my Chair year, the AdLaw Section’s motto, “Administrative
Law – Everybody Does It!” is crystal clear.I would encourage young lawyers and law students to sign up with the
Section today.We have continued to keep
the cost to a minimum compared to other Sections within the American Bar
Association.The AdLaw Section is
relevant to all lawyers and law students in a number of ways.Again, for me, regulatory law was central to
my time as the first General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS).The startup of the Department
required my involvement in the regulatory process.After my tenure at DHS, the AdLaw section was
the perfect home for a seminar I helped to develop for those practicing in the
area of homeland security law and policy.For the last eight years, the AdLaw Section has been home to the Homeland Security Law Institute.Our 9th annual conference will be
held at the Washington Convention Center on August 21-22, 2014.Registration is very reasonable for this
extraordinary two-day conference.Experts from the private sector, DHS, Department of Defense (DOD),
Department of Justice (DOJ), and the White House will speak on today’s hot
topics and disciplines in the area of homeland security law.We provide law students complimentary
registration for the Institute, as we do at other AdLaw Section programs and
events throughout the year, so we encourage them to register and attend.Group discounts are available as well.We look forward to another stellar conference
this year.

6.What do you think is
most valuable about the Section with regards to how it can assist attorneys
either in their daily practice or in meeting the challenges of a changing legal
market?

The
Section’s intangibles are the camaraderie and fellowship that come with
involvement in the programming, publishing, and committees in the Section.It is hard to measure the value of this piece
of the AdLaw equation.Although it
requires some effort to become involved in the Section’s activities, it is
worth it for younger and senior lawyers alike.Quite simply, if you invest your time in the Section and become an active
and participating member – and not just sit on the sidelines – you will become
a better lawyer for being a part of the Section; and the Section will become
stronger and more valuable because you have made that investment.

The
AdLaw Section has begun to implement and utilize the cutting-edge technology
that today’s legal market demands.The
Section is providing new opportunities to participate in and access programs
through webinars and teleconferencing, making registration more economical and
conferences easier to attend from the comfort of your own office.Program materials and new publications are
being made available via the web.